In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in a shipping case, or box, to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Some conventional protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pack. While these conventional plastic materials seem to perform adequately as cushioning products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serious drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their effect on our environment. Quite simply, these plastic packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems. The non-biodegradability of these packaging materials has become increasingly important in light of many industries adopting more progressive policies in terms of environmental responsibility.
The foregoing and other disadvantages of conventional plastic packaging materials have made paper protective packaging material a very popular alternative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and composed of a renewable resource, making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious industries.
While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert sheets of paper into a pad-like or other dunnage product. This conversion may be accomplished by a cushioning conversion machine, such as that disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,291. The therein disclosed cushioning conversion machine converts sheet stock material, such as paper in multi-ply form, into a pad-like dunnage product having longitudinally extending pillow-like portions that are connected together along a stitched central portion of he product. The stock material generally consists of three superimposed webs or layers of biodegradable, recyclable and reusable thirty-pound Kraft paper. A thirty-inch wide roll of this paper, which is approximately 450 feet long, will weigh about 35 pounds and will provide cushioning equal to approximately four fifteen cubic foot bags of plastic foam peanuts while at the same time requiring less than one-thirtieth the storage space.
The multi-ply roll of sheet stock material is mounted, for example, on an axle or a spindle that passes through the core of the stock roll with its ends projecting therebeyond for cradled receipt in respective laterally spaced apart mounts of a roll support member. The mounts may be provided, for example, directly on the frame of the cushioning conversion machine as shown in the '291 patent or on a mobile cart as shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,456.
The stock rolls presently used in cushioning conversion machines of the foregoing type have a 3 inch (7.62 cm) cardboard core tube around which multiple plies of the sheet material are tightly wrapped. A common practice has been to insert into each end of the core tube a disposable plastic plug that accommodates a difference between the inner diameter of the core tube and the outer diameter of the axle or spindle used to support the stock roll at the upstream end of the cushioning conversion machine. The plastic plugs in use today have concentric cylindrical outer and inner walls that are interconnected by an axially inner annular wall and radial ribs that extend radially between the radially inner and outer walls. The radially outer wall is sized for close fitted insertion into the core tube of the stock roll and there is provided at the axially outer end thereof a radially projecting annular flange which functions to engage the end of the core tube to prevent over-insertion of the plug into the core tube. The radially inner cylindrical wall has an inner diameter closely corresponding to the outer diameter of the spindle for smooth rotation of the plug about the spindle.
The stock roll would typically be loaded by positioning the stock roll on the floor or on a stand near the cushioning conversion machine. The spindle would then be inserted into the center hole in the plug at one end of the roll, through the core tube and then through the center hole in the plug at the opposite end of the roll. The stock roll could then be raised by grasping and lifting the ends of the spindle that project from opposite ends of the stock roll. The loading operation is completed by lowering the projecting ends of the spindle onto the laterally spaced apart mounts that have recesses for cradled receipt and retention of the spindle.
In certain packaging situations, circumstances may require the cushioning conversion machine to be placed against a wall, or over or under a conveyor or packaging table. In such situations it may be difficult or even impossible to load the stock roll on the machine. When a machine is placed against a wall, there may be insufficient room for the spindle to extend beyond the mounts or it may be difficult for an individual to fit between the machine and wall to lift one end of the stock roll onto the machine. Similarly, where a machine is disposed above or below a conveyor or a packaging table, the table or the conveyor may prevent a person from standing at the stock supply end of the machine to load the stock roll thereon. The stock rolls are generally light enough for one person to lift, but generally heavy enough to be cumbersome for lifting while reaching across a conveyor or table. To avoid reaching, two people are needed to lift the stock roll. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved system for facilitating the loading of a stock roll in those situations where conventional loading practices can not be performed easily, if at all.